STATE Bank of Mysore has extended close to Rs 60 crore as debt to Petronet India Ltd (PIL), banking sources said.

"There are hardly any new projects coming up. We are only too happy to fund the ongoing infrastructure projects and there has been some traction in pipeline projects," they added.

At the onset of the project in 1999, it was scheduled that four per cent, 26 per cent, 52 per cent and 18 per cent of the funds would be needed in the first, second, third and fourth years of construction.

Various activities of the pipeline design and execution have been considered while phasing capital cost.

Based on a 3:1 debt-equity ratio, the equity required would be around Rs 177 crore while the remaining Rs 530 crore would account for the debt portion.

PIL and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) would contribute around Rs 45 crore each while the remaining equity is expected to be raised from strategic and financial investors.

Petronet, the joint venture pipeline company, is currently laying a pipeline to transport gases from Mangalore to Bangalore.

However, the operating company for such project is Petronet-MHB, promoted by PIL and HPCL.

The Karnataka project's cost is expected to be in the range of Rs 707 crore for a 365-km stretch.

The multi-product pipeline is designed for a final throughput of 8.5 million tonnes.

However, all other facilities like pumping system and loading facilities are currently designed for throughput of 5.6 million tonnes.

It would cater to the consumption zones of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The project would be configured as a despatch terminal at Mangalore consisting of mainline and booster pumps, pig launchers, sump pump and tank, a tap-off terminal-cum-intermediate pumping station and a receiving terminal at Devengothi.

According to current plans, there will be hard-cut facilities at Hassan so that products are transported simultaneously towards the Hassan and Devengothi terminals in Bangalore.

PIL was formed as a financial holding company under a directive of the Government of India with the express objective of developing a pipeline infrastructure in the country through its joint venture companies or subsidiaries and providing pipeline access on a common carrier principle.

The equity shareholding of the oil companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and HPCL - has been restricted to 50 per cent and the rest is to be offered to financial companies or companies with the restriction that contribution from an individual entity would not exceed 10 per cent.

Similarly, in the joint venture companies, the holding company (PIL) and operating oil company would hold a minimum of 26 per cent each in the equity while the rest would be offered to financial institutions and the public.

PIL and the joint venture companies are to be structured as viable, independent commercial entities which would be project-financed on a stand-alone basis on the strength of their cash flows.

Various pipeline networks have been identified of which three will be given priority initially.

These are the Vadinar-Kandla, Kochi-Karur and Mangalore-Bangalore projects proposed to be constructed individually by Petronet-VK, Petronet-CCK and Petronet-MHB.

The debt funding is expected to be largely tied up in the form of rupee term loans from financial institutions and banks.